DAJK Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 9 minutes ago, Porthos said: Prob not necessary. Rebels is def not necessary. If you don't mind watching out of order, I'd catch up on the Bad Batch arc in S7 of TCW which introduced the characters in the first place, but even here I think the characters were well established enough within this episode to serve as introductions for folks unfamiliar with them. Only real thing is, a major plot point of the first arc of S6 of TCW is taken for granted as being known, but even here I think there's enough contextual info within the episode itself not to matter. Slight spoilers: Hide contents The existence of inhibitor chips causing clones to be brainwashed and exterminate Jedi was examined in-depth in that first arc of S6. But there was a lot of examination within this episode to bring folks up to speed in a natural way. IMO at least. Then again, this IS Star Wars. Finding out about things out of order/not learning the full story about characters 'till later is practically a tradition at this point. Ah yes, thanks! I know about all the inhibitor chip stuff (like I said, lifelong fan) I just haven’t gotten around to seeing the actual episodes themselves Thanks again! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porthos Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 (edited) 31 minutes ago, DAJK said: Ah yes, thanks! I know about all the inhibitor chip stuff (like I said, lifelong fan) I just haven’t gotten around to seeing the actual episodes themselves Thanks again! Ah, in that case you really should be cool. Plus it's not like the series is going anywhere, so you can catch up later if you want. As I thought about it, there probably is exactly one critical moment early in the episode where seeing prior arcs actually matters: Spoiler When a character off handedly says "Good soldiers follow orders" it looks like an ordinary comment, but people who are familiar with the inhibitor chip arc will go: But even here, it is fully addressed in the episode. At the same time, "good soldiers follow orders" is such a well known meme within SW circles, you might already be familiar with it, and will pick up why it matters when it does. Yes, I am keeping things vague here. Edited May 4, 2021 by Porthos 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fullbuster Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 People are very positive about it on Twitter 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4815162342 Posted May 5, 2021 Share Posted May 5, 2021 Good start, but one of the cameos felt VERY forced 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnokesLegs Posted May 5, 2021 Share Posted May 5, 2021 (edited) Enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. I’ve only seen the first season of Clone Wars (so what I’m about to say here may not apply to later CW seasons) but I appreciated the more measured pace of Bad Batch compared to the more frenetic pace of CW, which never seems to stop to let it’s scenes breathe before jumping to another scene. I know that’s probably due to the audience for CW season 1 being primarily children and they want to keep their attention (plus the more limiting 22 minute run time), but I always felt it undermined the characterisation. None of that was a problem here for me, it felt like they hit the sweet spot between story and action really well. Wrecker is a bit OTT and I hope they reign him in a bit as he just came off as a caricature, but I liked all of the other characters and the antagonist seems like he’ll be interesting. I’m on board for the rest. Edited May 5, 2021 by SnokesLegs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menor Reborn Posted May 5, 2021 Share Posted May 5, 2021 (edited) Very strong start. I do feel like Spoiler Echo is being underserved by this show. The whole "orders" thing is a prime opportunity to reflect on how he used to be the guy to always follow orders. Other than that it flowed nicely, though sometimes I felt the pace was a bit too slow. The visuals and music were absolutely wonderful, even better than TCW S7. The Kanan cameo was a bit forced, but I'll allow it because Kanan is awesome. I have my suspicions about who the "friend" is next week based on that leaked episode 2 title that Porthos sent, but I won't say anything even under spoiler tags in case people don't want to see. Also Omega is great. Also Spoiler good to see AZ again, although sadly I'm sure his mind was wiped of his friend Fives. Otherwise he could have had some stories to tell Echo. Edited May 5, 2021 by Menor 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porthos Posted May 5, 2021 Share Posted May 5, 2021 1 hour ago, SnokesLegs said: I appreciated the more measured pace of Bad Batch compared to the more frenetic pace of CW 15 minutes ago, Menor said: Very strong start. I do feel like [[[SNIP]]] that it flowed nicely, though sometimes I felt the pace was a bit too slow. Dread it. Run from it. The Duality of BOT arrives all the same. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lorddemaxus Posted May 5, 2021 Share Posted May 5, 2021 (edited) Watched this today with some of my friends who are quite into Star Wars. Ive never seen any of the animated shows but I thought this was pretty fun (although maybe a bit too long). The ending of the RoTS is a really cool place to start the show. Edited May 5, 2021 by lorddemaxus 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menor Reborn Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 47 minutes ago, lorddemaxus said: Watched this today with some of my friends who are quite into Star Wars. Ive never seen any of the animated shows but I thought this was pretty fun (although maybe a bit too long). The ending of the RoTS is a really cool place to start the show. This won't be the normal episode length fyi. Likely most of the season will be less than half this length at about 25-30 min. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porthos Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 Spoiler "I think it's a good plan, Tech." Seriously, Omega is the best. 👍 Spoiler Also seriously: Real glad to see her have very real human flaws and foibles. Helps round out her characterization.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porthos Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 A fitting coda to the opening episode. Some obvious story beats, but probably necessary ones, given how things were set up. What mattered is the execution, and I think it worked. Not as amazeballs as the premiere, but a fine tale all the same. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porthos Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 (edited) One other thing, actually. What I really liked about this episode was the quiet things. Some fairly obvious ones, so I won't mention them here. But I am already seeing a lot of comparisons to Spoiler Hunter/Omega and Din DJarin/Grogu, and while there is some broad similarity, I think there is one critical difference. And it ain't that Omega can talk. It's that Omega, twice now, chooses to be with the Bad Batch. One of the things I'm big about when it comes to story telling is Character Agency. Grogu has been played, if not quite like an infant, then a toddler. At times, at least. Omega though has agency enough to make decisions. Most good, some bad. But the clear difference to me is that while both Hunter and Mando felt conflicted about bringing someone young into a dangerous life, Omega chose to be with Hunter and the rest of the Batch. She actively walked away from a "safe" life to go with someone she trusted. There's obviously much much more to her backstory than it appears. Even odds that she's working through some abandonment trauma that we don't know about yet, which is very likely informing her decisions. Still, all about agency. That's why this episode worked for me and why I feel it isn't nearly as paint-by-numbers as it could have been. (also Hunter should have talked more with Omega about what she wanted, but even here it's highlighting Hunter's inexperience with dealing with kids and defaulting to a military/soldier POV and just expecting folks to follow orders, especially if he thinks it is for the best for someone else) Edited May 7, 2021 by Porthos 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4815162342 Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 You could say that character appearance was a deep cut 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Lehnsherr Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 Really solid 2nd episode Spoiler Seeing Cut and his family again was nice to see and I spent the whole episode worrying over his family's fate. I enjoyed again showing how quickly Palpatine has changed the fundamental structures of the Republic to fit the new Empire. The clone troopers already are more like stormtroopers than ever (hopefully less incompetent than they were in Rebels). Maybe a tad too coincidental regarding the timing of Rex but hopefully means we see him sooner than later. Out of the Bad Batch I particularly enjoy Wrecker and Omega's interactions. He's like that crazy over the top big brother which I like. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menor Reborn Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 Another good episode and good development of Hunter's relationship with Omega. I'm glad we get 16 of these. Will give a lot of time for further development. Spoiler Specifically we should get to see some more of the Batch's reaction to Crosshair turning against them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porthos Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 1 hour ago, Menor said: Another good episode and good development of Hunter's relationship with Omega. I'm glad we get 16 of these. Will give a lot of time for further development. Hide contents Specifically we should get to see some more of the Batch's reaction to Crosshair turning against them. Spoiler I'll be VERY surprised if we don't get an attempt to capture him and remove his chip arc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menor Reborn Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 Spoiler So Omega likes dirt, which is only one step away from liking sand. And she is definitely young enough to count as a youngling, from a certain point of view... All I'm saying is, don't get too attached to her. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Lehnsherr Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 It's repetitive but again I have to emphasise how gorgeous this show looks even compared to S7 of TCW. I really love how seriously Lucasfilm takes their animation stories. I don't know if any other CGI show can compete with how great The Bad Batch looks. It just makes it even more funny whenever I finish an episode and Disney+ is recommending S1 of TCW cause the contrast is even more stark. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menor Reborn Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 2 hours ago, Darth Lehnsherr said: It's repetitive but again I have to emphasise how gorgeous this show looks even compared to S7 of TCW. I really love how seriously Lucasfilm takes their animation stories. I don't know if any other CGI show can compete with how great The Bad Batch looks. It just makes it even more funny whenever I finish an episode and Disney+ is recommending S1 of TCW cause the contrast is even more stark. Yeah honestly before the trailer I didn't think they could make such an improvement on TCW S7 since that itself looked really amazing. The waterfalls at the beginning of the premiere were so beautiful. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fullbuster Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 I'll sub to D+ again later this month and one of the 1st things I'll do is watching this, I read that it's watchable without having watched Clone Wars so it's encouraging Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
